Sunday, July 12, 2009

Early Morning Beside the Bay.

Yesterday morning was nearly perfect. The sun was shining and the wind had dropped. I was walking along the southern end of the saltmarsh where last time I had found numbers of small birds feeding. There wasn't so much blossom out yesterday but I could still see numbers of small honeyeaters in the tops of the trees. Then I came upon a small group of "little brown birds" busily feeding on insects in one of the mangrove trees that edge the bush. I have had brief glimpses of similar "LBB's" before but never long enough to either ID them or to take photos. This time they stayed in the bushes and busily flew in and out. The occasional bird came out to the edge of the leaves and I could take some quick photos before it would quickly fly off again. All the time they were making soft chattering contact calls. The photos were clear enough that I could send them off to a friend and get an ID when I got home. They were Mangrove Gerygones - a bird I have heard before but never been close enough to ID. Photos of a new bird for me definitely made this a great morning!For more bird photos visit the Bird Photography Weekly.

Cute little critters, aren't they? I can see where they'd be hard to sort out from the other LBJs. And these are delightful photos - you captured a bit of the bird's charm and its spirit, not just the appearance.

Congrats, Mick, on getting the Gerygones. It's amazing how they stayed low because in my home country (the Philippines), gerygones stay high up in the canopies. Your LBBs are more like our Bushtits here in California.